Sierra Leone Heritage ~ Reanimating cultural heritage

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Country Cloth

This is a contemporary piece of country cloth, that entered the British Museum in 2002. Country cloth is a thick, heavy, cloth, traditionally made from locally grown cotton that is spun into thread, dyed, and woven into strips on a ...[more]

This is a contemporary piece of country cloth, that entered the British Museum in 2002. Country cloth is a thick, heavy, cloth, traditionally made from locally grown cotton that is spun into thread, dyed, and woven into strips on a tripod loom. The strips are then sewn together edge to edge to form the finished cloth. Such cloth was, in the past, regarded as a sign or wealth and Prestige. This example, however, is likely to have used imported cotton, cotton dyes, as well as synthetic yarns. It is also likely to have been machine woven. It is composed of seven strips of cotton and synthetic fibres, in cream, yellow, blue, turquoise, black, and lilac. The central panel consists of a block of interwoven black and white at the top and bottom of the panel. Between these two blocks is a section of lilac and cream, which is decorated with a diamond and polygon based pattern.

This is a contemporary piece of country cloth, that entered the British Museum in 2002. Country cloth is a thick, heavy, cloth, traditionally made from locally grown cotton that is spun into thread, dyed, and woven into strips on a tripod loom. The strips are then sewn together edge to edge to form the finished cloth. Such cloth was, in the past, regarded as a sign or wealth and Prestige. This example, however, is likely to have used imported cotton, cotton dyes, as well as synthetic yarns. It is also likely to have been machine woven. It is composed of seven strips of cotton and synthetic fibres, in cream, yellow, blue, turquoise, black, and lilac. The central panel consists of a block of interwoven black and white at the top and bottom of the panel. Between these two blocks is a section of lilac and cream, which is decorated with a diamond and polygon based pattern. [less]